An agricultural technology entrepreneur, she created a crop and soil management tool aimed at enhancing farmers' productivity and mitigating crop pests. Her innovation has earned her numerous accolades and distinctions.

Maryanne Gichanga (photo), a Kenyan tech entrepreneur and law student at Mount Kenya University, is the co-founder and CEO of AgriTech Analytics. The company, established in 2018, is committed to eradicating hunger and poverty by assisting small-scale farmers in rural Africa to increase crop yields and secure food supplies.

AgriTech Analytics employs various data types, including satellite imagery and data from its solar IoT crop and soil sensors. The device sends alerts or reports to farmers via mobile phones with over 97% accuracy, enabling early pest detection to prevent crop damage and harvest loss.

The company currently serves 2,880 small-scale farmers across the Rift Valley, Central, and Eastern Kenya, with plans to enroll 15,000 farmers by 2024. "There are 33 million farmers in Africa and approximately 4.5 million small-scale farmers in Kenya. Our target market is 2.5% of this demographic in Kenya which translates to 112,500 farmers by 2027," Gichanga stated in 2023.

Gichanga, a former data analyst at Standard Chartered Bank (2013-2020), received several awards and honors in 2023. She was included in Business Daily Africa's 40 under 40 women list and won the 2023 Agritech of the Year award on behalf of her company from Guzakuza, a women leaders in agribusiness support organization, and the German Agency for International Development Cooperation (GIZ).

Melchior Koba